Posted on 06/12/2014 5:08:42 PM PDT by Jacquerie
INDIANAPOLIS | Representatives and senators from 29 states met Thursday in the Indiana Statehouse to begin planning for the first state-led revisions to the U.S. Constitution since the nation's fundamental governing document was enacted in 1789.
The significance of the work undertaken by The Mount Vernon Assembly to prepare for a future Convention of the States was not lost on the 94 official and participating delegates, mostly Republicans, who filled the House chamber.
"Nothing like this has occurred in over two centuries, though certainly the founders of this nation assumed it would have happened long ago," said Indiana Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, an organizer of the meeting.
However, because an Article V convention never has been called, there are no clear procedures on how it would begin, what rules the convention would follow or whether it could be limited in scope.
The Mount Vernon Assembly, which organized last December at George Washington's Virginia estate and is planning to change its name to the Assembly of State Legislatures, has taken it upon itself to start answering those questions to ensure a future Convention of the States gets off on the right foot.
In the afternoon, delegates organized into four committees to begin tackling detailed planning questions for a Convention of the States, including how many delegates each state should have, whether states must send Congress an identical request and whether past state calls for Article V conventions, such as those submitted by Indiana in 1861 and 1979, are still valid.
State Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte, was appointed co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He will help shape answers to those questions and others ahead of the assembly's December meeting, where its proposed rules for a Convention of the States will be approved.
(Excerpt) Read more at nwitimes.com ...
That excludes Palin and Cruz and most of the other potential GOP candidates.
Not really. Did not Mark Levin proposed this in his most recent book?
History will not look well on a people who gaff off their duty to oppose tyranny.
My defeatism comes from the fact that the fact that it doesn’t matter what is constitutional in the Obamanation. The only political solution available gave up for the sake of a few pieces of silver.
My 10 preferred action items:
1)Repeal the 17th amendment
2)Repeal the 16th amendment
3)Require that the prior year’s total fiscal spending, minus federal tariffs and usage fees received during that year, be apportioned according to each representative and senator in Congress. For each state, sum the total of each representative and senator’s apportionment and divide by 12. This becomes the state’s federal tax bill that the state can now tax how it wants to meet it’s obligation. The state may not disburse any other funds to any other recipient until the federal tax bill has been paid.
4) All senator’s, representatives, President, Vice President and cabinet members salaries will be held in escrow until a budget has been passed during each fiscal year. The budget shall be submitted according to each cabinet position, voted on in order of cabinet position created with the oldest positions being voted first.
5) No citizen of the United States shall be prohibited by any jurisdiction subject to the Laws of Congress, from owning, carrying on, in or about their person, residence or mode of private transportation, any firearm or ammunition.
6)The commerce clause of the Constitution shall be limited to actual goods that are transported across state lines.
7) The electoral college and electors there of shall be apportioned to the candidate who wins the majority vote in each congressional district. If no candidate receives a majority, then a run off election shall be held between candidates that received at least 15% of the vote. The candidate who receives the most votes in the run off election shall be awarded the electoral seat. The candidate who wins the most votes in the state shall receive one additional electoral vote. The candidate who receives the most congressional districts shall also receive an additional electoral vote. Should there be a tie between the congressional districts, the current sitting Governor shall decide which candidate of the two shall receive the electoral vote.
8) Each state shall meet in unicameral session and shall vote one at a time on a list of candidates to represent the state as that state’s Senator. Senator’s serve at the will of the legislator and may be recalled with the state legislator meeting in unicameral session and by 2/3 rds approving the recall petition.
9) Navigable waterways are defined as waterways that are year round and provide a draft depth of no less than 2 feet.
10) Any public employee, officer, Senator, Congressman or officer of the court, of the United States, regardless of position held, shall be removed from office and denied any other benefit of that office upon conviction for presenting knowingly false information to the public. All reports, letters, or other means of communication from the government shall require a positive statement that the details contained within the document are true and accurate.
It means a lot Norm. Just getting the convention called will be a huge victory for the people. When we demonstrate the amendment process for the people, we will demonstrate the CoS is a viable path to reign in our federal government. Once we start down this path we will start righting the ship of state.
The system the Framers designed allowed for less than angelic politicians. It divided power between the states and the government they created. This separation of power is not optional to freedom.
Repeal the 17th, and restoration of freedom is possible.
They can change it all they want - there are basic precepts that people will still fight for even though the Democrats change it.
My idea of a single amendment to correct several issues all at once.
[A WORK IN PROGRESS]
Section 1. The following Amendments to the Constitution of the United States shall be repealed.
- Article 1. The sixteenth amendment [Income tax].
- Article 2. The seventeenth amendment [Senatorial elections].
- Article 3. The twenty-third amendment [Washington, D.C., suffrage].
Section 2. Recognizing the Rights of the People.
- Article 1. The government of the United States shall recognize each citizen of the United States is an individual who is endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that among those rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- Article 2. All actions and activities of the federal government of the United States, including all laws, all enactments, and all legislation of the federal government:
- Shall apply equally to each individual citizen of the United States; and
- Shall apply no preferential or punitive treatment for any individual citizen of the United States based upon any distinction, including but not limited to age, or race, or gender, or religion, or social status, or financial status, or health status, or any other distinction; except as a punishment for a crime wherein the party shall have been duly convicted; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens to provide any labor; and no restrictions shall be placed on the value of their labor; except as a punishment for a crime wherein the party shall have been duly convicted; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens to purchase or use any products, methods, or services of any other citizen or group of citizens; and
- Shall not encourage, discourage, require, restrict, compel, or prohibit any citizen or group of citizens from entering into private contracts and agreements regarding labor, or wages, or other compensation.
Section 3. Recognizing the Authority of the States.
- Article 1. The Constitution of the United States is an agreement of delegation of certain specific powers by each of the several States that authorize it, and it does not endow the federal government with any implied powers. All powers not expressly delegated to the United States by Article I section 8 of The Constitution, are reserved to each of the States respectively, or to the people, are strictly prohibited as specified by the 9th and 10th amendments. The federal government of the United States is authorized to control and maintain property and assets only where necessary to accomplish the powers delegated in Article I section 8 of The Constitution.
- Article 2. Each state shall retain its sovereignty, freedom, and independence. Every power, jurisdiction, and authority which is not expressly delegated to the United States in Article I section 8 of The Constitution are reserved to the States, or to the people.
- Article 3. The phrases “promote the general welfare” and “provide for the general welfare” that are found in the United States Constitution are not to be interpreted as to allow for or imply any additional powers other than those that are expressly delegated to the United States by Article I section 8 of The Constitution. Those phrases do not imply any additional impositions on the individual States, or on the people.
- Article 4. The phrase “to regulate commerce among the several states” that is found in Article 1 Section 8 of The Constitution shall limit the Federal Government solely to insuring there are no taxes, or tariffs, or restrictions, or any other barriers to free trade and free commerce between and among any of the several states and thus allow for unrestricted commerce between and among the states. Upon specific application from the Governor or chief executive of any of the several states, congress shall have the authority to mediate any trade disputes that may arise among them.
- Article 5. No actions or activities of the federal government of the United States, including no law, no enactment, and no legislation of the federal government shall require any of the several States to engage in any activities, programs, or initiatives without the specific consent and agreement of each of the states, and even then, without providing compensation to each of the states that is equal to the additional costs of implementing and maintaining those activities, programs, or initiatives.
- Article 6. No actions or activities of the federal government of the United States, including no law, no enactment, and no legislation of the federal government shall apply unequally to any of the several States.
Section 4. The United States House of Representatives.
- Article 1. The term of office for members of the United States House of Representatives shall be 2 years; but no person shall be elected to the office of the House of Representatives of the United States for more than two terms.
- Article 2. A member of the United States House of Representative must be at least twenty five years old, and must have been a legal citizen of the United States for 7 years, and must have been a legal resident of the state from which he is chosen for at least the previous 7 years.
- Article 3. The House of Representatives shall undertake a census enumeration once every ten years to determine the number of born or naturalized United States citizens who are over the age of eighteen on January first of the census year residing in each of the several states. Citizens residing within the District of Columbia shall be counted as residents of the state of Maryland for the purpose of census enumeration.
- Article 4. The number of members of the United States House of Representatives shall be determined by proportion of the population of born or naturalized United States citizens who are over the age of eighteen on January first of the census year residing in each of the several states based upon the most recent census enumeration. Citizens residing within the District of Columbia shall be considered as residents of the state of Maryland for the purpose of representation in the House of Representatives. Based upon the most recent census enumeration, the total number of citizens of The United States shall be divided by the number of the citizens of the least populous state to determine the number of members of the House of Representatives; except that no state shall have more than fifty representatives, and no state shall have fewer than two representatives.
- Article 5. The manner and method of selection of the members of the United States House of Representatives shall be by popular vote of born or naturalized United States citizens of the United States who are legal residents of each representative district within the state. The Governor or chief executive of each of the several states shall determine the representative districts within their states.Section 5. The United States Senate.
Section 5. The United States Senate.
- Article 1. The term of office for members of the United States Senate shall be 6 years; terms will be staggered with 1/3 being elected every 2 years; but no person shall be chosen for the office of Senate of the United States for more than two terms.- Article 2. Each member of the United States Senate must be at least thirty years old, and must have been a legal citizen of the United States for at least 12 years, and must have been a legal resident of the state from which they are chosen for at least the previous 12 years.- Article 3. The Governor or chief executive of each of the several states shall determine the manner and method of selection of their United States Senators.- Article 4. No bill, legislation, resolution, or any other business of any kind shall be approved by the Senate without having obtained approval of three-fifths of all of its members.
Section 6. The Executive Branch of the Federal Government.
- Article 1. ???...age requirement, citizenship requirement, residency requirement...
- Article 2. The president must accept all parts of a bill or veto the bill in its entirety. There shall be no line-item or partial veto. The President has no authority to write, re-write, alter, or amend congressional legislation or administrative law.
- Article 3. No regulation proposed by the Executive Branch or by any federal agency thereof shall have the force of law until it has been proposed to and approved by a majority of both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President.
- Article 4. All regulations that exist in the “Code of Federal Regulations” at the time of passage of this amendment will expire 10 years after the passage of this amendment, unless each of those regulations are re-authorized by being presented and passed by a majority of both houses of the Congress. The re-authorization of these existing regulations shall be exempt from presidential veto.
The President shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment....provided that any such Reprieves and Pardons are approved by both houses of Congress.
Section 7. The Judicial Branch of the Federal Government.
- Article 1. ...??? term limits, age requirement, citizenship requirement, residency requirement...
- Article 2. If the Supreme Court finds any portion of a bill, law, legislation, or regulation to be unconstitutional, that ruling must be applied to the entire bill, law, legislation, or regulation. The Supreme Court has no authority to write, re-write, alter, or amend congressional legislation or administrative law.
Section 8. The Federal Budget.
- Article 1. The fiscal year for the federal government shall begin on the first day of April and end on the last day of March. Before the first day of June of each year, the House of Representatives shall publish a statement of the origins and amounts outlays and receipts of the federal government from the previous year. Any outlays for repayment of debt principal, any outlays for payments on debt interest, and any receipts from borrowing that may have occurred in the prior year shall be itemized separately. After the first day of June, no other bills shall be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives until this statement has been published.
- Article 2. Any annual budget surplus amounts that may occur shall not roll-over to the next year, and shall first be applied to the retirement of any existing debt principle of the United States unless there is no such debt, in which case such budget surplus amounts shall be refunded annually before the first day of July proportionally to each of the several states according to the total number of members allocated in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
- Article 3. Before the first day of August of each year, the House of Representatives shall propose an annual budget for the following fiscal year by a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject and then send the bill to the United States Senate for agreement. The United States Senate must bring the proposed budget to the floor for a roll call vote within ten days (Sundays excepted). The United States Senate shall have no authority to amend the proposed annual budget; it must either approve the budget or return it to the House of Representatives noting any objections. After the first day of August of each year, no other bills shall be brought to the floor of either house for consideration until such time as an annual budget has been approved by the United States House of Representatives and accepted by the United States Senate and then either signed into law by the president, or ten days having passed (Sundays excepted).
- Article 4. No bill to increase or to raise additional federal revenue, and no bill to increase limits that may be placed on the amount of debt held by the United States, and no federal budget that increases the size of the budget, and no federal budget that proposes any borrowing shall become law unless each such bill is specifically and separately approved by: first, a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject by three fourths of the whole number of the members of the House of Representatives of the United States; and second, a role call vote directly to that specific and single subject by three fourths of the whole number of the members of the Senate of the United States. The United States Senate shall have no authority to amend such bills; it must either approve the bill or return it to the House of Representatives noting any objections.
- Article 5. Beginning on the first day of January of the first year after ratification of this amendment, the current income tax code shall be fully repealed, and replaced with a 15 percent flat rate income tax that shall be levied against all wages earned in each of the various States and territories of the United States with no exemptions and no exceptions. Beginning on the first day of January of the second year after ratification of this amendment, all federal taxes on income shall be wholly abolished and a 15 percent tax shall be levied against all retail sales transactions in each of the various States and territories of the United States with no exemptions and no exceptions. This tax shall be collected by each of the various States and territories of the United States and shall be transferred to the federal government on a monthly basis. A failure by any State or territory to collect or transfer federal taxes shall result a suspension of any voting privileges for representatives from that State in the United States Congress and a suspension of any federal funding for any programs within that State or territory until such time as ...
29 states attending! That is outstanding. In the whole morass of bad news these day—domestic and foreign—the Article V. movement is the only realistic way of fixing our country. Washington cannot and will not reform itself. Only We the People can do it.
Thank you for including me on your ping list!
Such a convention could be limited in the sense that the states don't have to ratify any amendment(s) that a convention might propose.
They “tweak”, “modernize”, “massage” or other wise alter the Second Amendment with anything other than “and we mean infringed by anyone in any way” and it’ll start a shooting war.
Even if I’m standing on that hill alone.
Mistake. Big mistake.
If Obama’s not obeying our current Constitution...why would anybody think he’d obey a new Constitution?
And the thought of cracking the door to allowing the Dems an opportunity to write “their” version of a new Constitution just scares the heck out of me.
The courts have undermined the constitution. How do we stop that?
Exactly...All we need to do is enforce the Constitution and Bill of Rights that we have...And put a lock on activist Judges...
The Supreme Court would tell us those things are unconstitutional...
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